Bob Dylan’s unintelligible performance at ACC leaves fans, critic frustrated

Toronto Star

I'm all for artist's rights, but contempt like this for your audience is pretty pathetic.

Cool concert neither you nor I went to alert: The Weeknd in Brooklyn

Report: The Weeknd in Brooklyn

Stellar photos at the link.

The guy is doing it the right way with a live band. There's so much more energy in the live performance when you have musicians in the flesh.

"When I found out I was starting my tour in New York, the city that never sleeps," he said during one of the show's few brief conversational interludes, "One song came to mind. I didn't look at it as a motherfucking gig. This is a motherfucking celebration". He then began gyrating-- seemingly involuntarily-- to the Beach House-sampling "The Party & the After Party", its live rendition supplemented with deep, rolling bass. Feeding off the energy of fans so devoted as to smuggle a set of balloons into the venue, Tesfaye seemed supremely excited to share each lyric, narrating his songs like he was telling a juicy story to a close confidant.

Sounds awesome, that would have been an amazing show.

The balloon could have been a clever plant... In any case, to that person, I say: "Classic move. Nice."

An overdue Prince concert review

Alright, this is overdue, and the further we get from the show the less I want to write about it, so let's get this post going!

I realized that maybe I didn't want to do a review at all. The main reason for that was the way we totally got the shaft. Let me explain.

Prince played two shows at the Air Canada Centre, November 25 & 26. We went to the Saturday show. On the Friday, Prince and the NPG played probably one of the most epic sets of all time. The Purple One once made Toronto home, so he has a special place in his heart for the city. Which is great, if you went to the first show.

Check out these two setlists:

• November 25
• November 26

Taken individually, these are two amazing shows. Taken together, and you can see why the people on the second night got a bit of the shaft. Thanks to social media & the web, we knew going into the show that there were six (6!) encores on Friday, and that Saturday was going to be a hell of a show. Well, the weight of expectations sort of brought that down and we couldn't help feeling disappointed. Which is kind of shitty, actually. If Prince had only played the Saturday show, I could easily have said it was one of the best shows I'd ever been to. But with the knowledge of what the audience got the night before, I can still say it was one of the best shows I've ever been to, but that's tempered with the mild bitterness of having missed the show the night before. The cynical side of me thinks this was due to the fact that every journalist would be out in full force on the first night, giving effusive praise, and that the second show would be basically ignored by the same press.

Wait... I guess I should write about the music too, right? Of course. Well it was phenomenal. His Royal Badness can still play the fuck out of the guitar, and his band is absolutely dynamite. They played a bunch of hits, but the surprising thing was all the cover songs the band played. Lots of classics, as you can see from the setlist link above, but the one sort of oddity was Sarah McLachlan's "Angel", which a couple of the lady backup singers came out and sang while Prince did a costume change. You will notice the Friday show did not get to enjoy such a treat. So take that, suckers! The second night also got "Mountains", so there's that small victory.

A bunch of random notes, and things I enjoyed about the show:

-"I'd like to call a special guest to the stage... my guitar!"

-"Turn the house lights up, I want to see all you people!" - this happened about 15 times during the show. Seriously.

-Prince finishing a guitar solo at the end of a song (I forget which one), then handing the guitar to one of the ladies from the audience who had come up on stage... the lights went down, and shadowy figures came on stage and quickly retrieved the guitar. Tough luck!

I hardly remember the way the show ended, and the alcohol was only partly to blame. He came out and jammed on the piano with some backing tracks... which is fine, Prince can do whatever he wants, but it was out of place given the killer encores from the Friday show. It felt like everyone in the building was expecting more than one encore (greedy!), and after about 10-15 minutes of the whole building chanting "Prince!", a voice came over the PA to tell everyone where the after party was being held, effectively letting everyone know that the skinny man had left the building.

Sort of an anti-climactic ending, but really it was our own fault for building up expectations instead of just going with the show.

But, like I said, a great show, maybe one of the greatest I've been to, and perhaps time will take the sting out of seeing the second best show of two, when the first was up there with the Artist's greatest shows ever.

The moral of the story is: Prince is so awesome that he can make one show of a lifetime pale in comparison to another show of a lifetime.

Concert review - The Weeknd

Damn, I wish I was there for this one...
A perfect Weeknd

"After months shrouded in secrecy, Abel Tesfaye, best known as The Weeknd, made his public debut Sunday night in his hometown of Toronto. It was the perfect live start to what will be a thriving career, if he keeps up like this. "

Blogto commenters prove once again that no one reads Blogto articles

Today's exhibit: Steely Dan shows how a rock band ages gracefully

I could spend all day picking apart the comments section of this article in particular, but it would make me unnecessarily angry, and hate all the people who live in my city.

So to be brief - it's obvious that the first and third commenters didn't read the article at all, since what they are saying makes no sense... the article says the exact opposite and is, in fact, agreeing with what they are saying. 

This is why I usually avoid reading comments on articles online, as it really pains me to be faced with the realization of something I already know - there are a lot of really stupid people out there walking around, driving cars, making food that I eat, etc, etc...

Soundgarden concert review - July 2, Molson Amphitheatre, Toronto

Here's a late concert review, I've been busy enjoying the summer and haven't had time to put all these thoughts swimming in my head about this concert down in words. 

I admit to being a bit skeptical at first.  How would the band's chops hold up?  Would the chemistry still be there?  Would they favour new material, or would it play like a greatest hits?  Will Chris Cornell nail those stunning vocal parts from Superunknown?

Let me put it mildly: there was no rust on this machine.  The band was as sharp as you'd expect from the first night of a major tour, and a comeback one at that.  I didn't bring earplugs, this being the lawns and all.  I was definitely not expecting the band to be that loud.  They were extremely heavy, loud, and energetic through the entire set.

The setlist did not disappoint.  They allayed my fears instantly, opening with the comeback single "Black Rain", which from the parking lot sounded like it could have been from Badmotorfinger.  Getting the new material out of the way, they played a punishing set that would satisfy the 'greatest-hitters' and the long time fans... check out the setlist, via setlist.fm:

Black Rain
Searching With My Good Eye Closed
Spoonman
Gun
Rusty Cage
Blow Up the Outside World
Let Me Drown
Jesus Christ Pose
My Wave
The Day I Tried to Live
Outshined
Beyond the Wheel
Fell on Black Days
Ugly Truth
Burden in My Hand
Superunknown
Black Hole Sun
4th of July

Encore:

Face Pollution
Like Suicide
Slaves & Bulldozers

I have an idea for a post about how awesome setlist.fm is, which I will hopefully hammer out soon.

The biggest surprise of all was the vocal performance by Chris Cornell.  My friend Matt remarked during the show that it was one of the greatest vocal performances he had ever seen, and I tend to agree.  Not just jazz, classical, or rock, but vocal performances, period.  Absolutely breathtaking.  We couldn't believe our ears.

The combination of an amazing performance and a stunning lightning show made this a very memorable performance.  Massive rain kinda put a... damper on the exit, but what can we say?  Soundgarden is back.

TV on the Radio concert review - April 18, Sound Academy

That was a hell of a concert.

It's taken me a week to get this review together, but yeah. It was awesome. This was the fifth time I've seen the band, and probably a close second for the best performance of the five. Of course, #1 is the time I saw them in 2004 at the Horseshoe, back when their shows cost $10, not $32, and the opener was this unknown duo named the Junior Boys. You could say I'm "OG-TVOTR".

My enthusiasm for the group was bested only slightly by the guy standing to the right of us at the show, who was seemingly the only other person in the room who lost their shit more than I did when we realized that the group was opening the show with "Young Liars"... when the drums kicked in on that song and the whole Sound Academy began to shake, I knew we were in for a special show. So did Mr. Superfan, who knew every break, beat and chorus.

Jamming into every song, including the start of the show, extending parts and changing arrangements, the set was dynamic and well-paced. The biggest difference was the trombone player on stage, filling out the group's sound with his smooth playing and picking up the tambourine when there were no horn parts.

The lighting show also was above and beyond anything I've seen them do before, and it really enhanced the whole set, especially "Staring at the Sun" and "Red Dress".

All the new material fits really well into the live show, and they did a good job working the new stuff in with the old. If you are a fan of the band, you gotta check out the new album, Nine Types of Light. I got into the band in the early days, so I wonder what it's like for some of these kids (yes, kids, a couple of them couldn't have been older than 13) to hear their dense, mind-blowing early work in comparison to the slick, crystalline production of Dear Science and Nine Types of Light... It's a cool feeling to have been following a group since the beginning and seeing new fans come in along the way.

I've mentioned before that I've heard people gripe about the Sound Academy... last time I saw TVOTR play there, in 2009, the sound was indeed a bit flat. This time, however, it was damn near perfect. (Well, the guitars could have cut through a bit more, but, ya know...) Compared to the recent drum machine driven Cut Copy show at the same venue, I can say without a doubt that live drums make a huge difference. TVOTR's drums were earth rumbling, amazing.

Here's the setlist, via setlist.fm (which is an awesome site cause I don't have to fret about trying to remember the setlist after one or two barley pops):
Young Liars
The Wrong Way
Blues From Down Here
Caffeinated Consciousness
Province
Crying
Staring at the Sun
Will Do
Repetition
Wolf Like Me
Red Dress

Encore:

A Method
Forgotten
Satellite

===

The makeup of the group harkens back to Prince and Sly & the Family Stone... I can see them touring with female backup singers in the future, one which I'm sure will be bright.

There are few better bands out there recording and performing right now, the "genre-blending" (I hate that term) of the group puts them light years ahead of other groups and makes you wonder why you listen to much else of anything at all.

Cut Copy concert review & setlist

I caught Cut Copy last week at the Sound Academy with some friends. Pretty great show... it's weird when you've been following a band for a while and you see them grow from being not very well known to playing on TV and getting a lot of media coverage.

I would have liked one or two more songs from the first album, but that's a pretty typical complaint from someone who saw them "before they were blog-famous". The concert was definitely a way to show off the new direction they took on Zonoscope... longer songs, more builds, all geared to have a greater impact in a live setting.

Opener Holy Ghost was also impressive, I'll have to check them out further.

The sound at the Academy isn't all that bad - I know some people have issues with the place, but the band was tight and the sound was decent.... no complaints.

Setlist, via setlist.fm

Visions
Nobody Lost, Nobody Found
Where I'm Going
Feel the Love
Corner of the Sky
Lights and Music
Take Me Over
Pharaohs & Pyramids
Saturdays
Hearts on Fire
Sun God

Encore:

Need You Now
Out There on Ice

Plastic concert

Gorillaz big-band sound [thestar.com]

If [the] first tour made a point about how secondary actual human musicians have become to pure presentation in pop music, this one is making a show of how much genuine, flesh-and-blood musicianship goes into creating the multimedia artifice that is the Gorillaz universe.

Sounds like a pretty wicked show, wish I was there.

Caribou concert review: solid

May 3, 2010: Caribou @ The Phoenix

I was hoping for a better venue than the Phoenix for my first time seeing the band since 2005, but hey, what can I say. I spent the first four songs in the beer line. Luckily I was able to catch a pretty decent view. You'd think they'd have more than one bartender... whatever.

Snaith isn't a terribly gifted singer, but he fits his voice to the tunes and always gives it his all. He played synth, drums, plus either bass or guitar (I couldn't tell from where I was standing), and he was joined by a band playing guitar, bass and drums. Lots of playing with the songs and a few improvised diversions, which were excellent. That's why we go to the show, right? We don't want to hear identical renditions of the CD, or we'd just go home and listen to the CD.

The setlist was mostly made up of cuts from the last two albums, and I think everything from the new album was played. There were a couple songs from Milk of Human Kindness, "Barnowl" stands out for me. That was pretty awesome.

Openers Toro Y Moi (which my brother tells us is something to do with a bull) sounded kind of like Cut Copy. Instrumentation included bass, drums and a guy playing synth and singing. Better than expected from an opener.

My brother and I bumped into popular CBC radio personality Jian Ghomeshi, who was just the gent you'd expect him to be, friendly and outgoing, especially after we told him we're fellow Thornhillers.

Overall, solid and memorable night. Next time I won't wait five years in between seeing Caribou live.

And as usual, the cell phone video doesn't do it justice:

Spoon: concert review

I'm glad someone else wrote a review of Spoon's recent show at the Sound Academy... I've been meaning to do it for a few days. In regards to the above review, Spoon was better than Deerhunter, imho. I'm definitely more familiar with the former.

I'll get a few points in:

-Great setlist, despite the fact it was missing "I Turn My Camera On"
-The numbers from Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga with horns on the record really could have used horns live. It sounded really thin and the keyboard alone didn't have the fullness I would have liked.
-Holy crap, the drummer, Jim Eno (no relation) is a freaking robot. Mechanical and precise and nary a fill to be heard.
-Very cool stage setup, kinda minimal yet poignant like much of the band's music.
-What's up with Sound Academy shaking down people like it's the US Embassy? I think they've had trouble in the past with ne'er do wells. Perhaps people feel like they need to pack extra goods for the long trek down the venue.
-They definitely need a strip of bars/pubs in that area, seems like there's lots of open land... the place feels so isolated.
-Awesome weather, nice night for a show. As always, great view of the city skyline. If you're heading down to the venue for a concert, turn your camera on.

Talkin' bout Girl

Apparently, the latte-lamenting hipsters over at blogto didn't dig Girl Talk's Toronto set on Wednesday night. I wasn't there, but I'll have to take their word for it.

Nice to see someone going against the grain as far as the effusive praise showered on Mr. Gillis, and I totally agree that a dude playing a laptop is a lame set. There's just no way around it. His records are brilliant, but the guy is at best an entertainer, at worst a scalper. Just don't call him a musician.

On the other hand, anyone who can get the staid, zombie-like concert goers of this city to dance just a little god damn bit has to be given some credit... right? And I hope the irony of calling out hipsters on a hipster blog isn't lost on the author.

---

And now, a song that has nothing to do with the post, but popped into my head after I wrote the title to this post:

Concert review: Weird Al

Weird Al - July 25, Casino Rama

First off, I was very impressed with Mr. Yankovic's rock star chops, he deserves a lot more credit than people give him. His howls during the climax of "Wanna B Ur Lovr" almost made me think he was lip-synching, but it looked pretty darn real. That song was a particular highlight with Al serenading the crowd with the double (and single) Prince-esque entendres.

His use of video was what you'd expect from a guy who made half of his career as a video artist, taking a nod from his heroes, DEVO. The set ran a cool 2:20, mostly because of the AlTV videos running between songs in the segment after the medley... every song needed a costume change and the the fake interviews (Eminem and K-Fed the especially hilarious ones).

Here's the setlist, as lifted mostly from a Yahoo Group. Looks like he's been using the same setlist for a while now. The medley was pretty much the same, though there might have been some variation. I wasn't keeping notes.

Fun Zone
Chicken Dance
Polkarama!
Canadian Idiot
Close But No Cigar
Bob
It's All About the Pentiums
You're Pitiful
Wanna B Ur Lovr

Medley:
Couch Potato
Do I Creep You Out?
I'm in Love with the Skipper
Headline News (updated)
Confessions Part III
A Complicated Song
eBay
Bedrock Anthem
Ode to a Superhero
Pretty Fly for a Rabbi
Trapped in the Drive-Thru
Gump
Eat It

The Saga Begins
Yoda
Smells Like Nirvana
Amish Paradise
White and Nerdy
Fat

Encore:
Cell Phones
Albuquerque

Concert review: Steely Dan

Steely Dan - July 4, Casino Rama

The incomparable Rock and Roll Hall of Famers Steely Dan took to the stage in rather languid fashion, letting their "Steely Dan Orchestra '08" play through a few minutes of instrumentals before casually walking on stage as though they were some kind of religious figures, and judging by some members of the devoted audience, it wasn't entirely unwarranted.

As the for the music itself, if was 10% more of a snob, I'd say, a la Amadeus:

"Emperor Joseph II: My dear young man, don't take it too hard. Your work is ingenious. It's quality work. And there are simply too many notes, that's all. Just cut a few and it will be perfect."

Donald Fagen... what can I say about this guy. He really wants to be Ray Charles or Randy Newman. Or both. He said he was having throat problems, but why the hell was he sipping Coke? Why? At least take a ginger ale... unless he spiked that coke. Anyway, I always find it hilarious that there's no food or drink allowed in the venue up there, but the artists can flaunt the Rama laws all they want. I guess it pays to be in the Hall of Fame.

---

Here's the setlist, as provided by Adam, who has a much more extensive knowledge of the group than I do:

The Royal Scam
I Got The News
Show Biz Kids
Two Against Nature
Hey Nineteen
Glamour Profession
New Frontier
Do It Again
Gaucho
Parker's Band
Third World Man
Josie
Aja
Peg
FM

Encore:
Kid Charlemagne

---

Steely Dan concert by the numbers:

"Orchestra" members: 10

Michael McDonald look-a-like sightings at the buffet: 3

Classic rock radio hits not played: 2 (Reelin' in the Years, Rikki Don't Lose That Number)

Classic rock radio hits re-worked: 1 (Do It Again)

Number of sips by Fagan from his two cans of coke: 3

---

Here's a highlight for me, "Hey Nineteen"

That's me in the corner

If the me from now told the me from five years ago that I'd be at an R.E.M. concert and actually enjoying myself, I'd have punched me in the face and offered up a quip like "Gee, I guess everybody does hurt", or "What's the frequency now, bitch?"

Luckily, I don't have a time machine and I'm fully entitled to changing my mind on the subject. That being said, last night's show at the Molson Amphitheatre was pretty good at best. My friend Bill scored the tickets, and after realizing The National and Modest Mouse were also on the 'bill', it became a no-brainer.

The openers were solid, and the crowd was actually appreciative of the bands and showed the due respect. I think Isaac Brock of Modest Mouse wants to be Frank Black very, very, very badly... "then God is seven!!! then God is seven!!!"

A bit of rain started to come down between sets, or as I like to call it, "beer run", but it all cleared up before the Hall of Famers took the stage. R.E.M. makes four Famers live for me, including Santana, Prince and Bowie. It's interesting to consider that I've seen those four only after they were inducted... somewhere down the road a bunch of bands I've seen will be inducted and I can say "I saw them in their prime".

Oh, wait, U2 is also in the Hall. I keep forgetting, I wonder why. Make it five. And I did see them before they were inducted, though the Elevation tour can hardly be considered their prime.

Back to R.E.M., Ben Rayner wrote a terrific article about the show... I didn't notice the rainbow, but that would have been a perfect time to play "Everybody Hurts", which they didn't play! How do you not play that song during a rainstorm! I don't even like that song and I wanted to hear it in the rain!

---

Here's the setlist, grabbed from an R.E.M. fan site message board

These Days
Horse To Water
What's the Frequency Kenneth?
Drive
Man-Sized Wreath
So Fast, So Numb
Ignoreland
Accelerate
7 Chinese Bros.
Hollow Man
Bad Day
Houston
Electrolite
Living Well
The One I Love
Final Straw
Until The Day Is Done
Let Me In
Begin The Begin
Animal
Orange Crush
I'm Gonna DJ

Encore:
Supernatural Superserious
Losing My Religion
Second Guessing
Fall On Me (with Johnny Marr)
Man On The Moon
---

So no "Radio Free Europe", no "Everybody Hurts", no "Nightswimming", but on the plus side, "Orange Crush", "The One I Love", and "Losing My Religion".

Here's something I can't understand for the life of me: You pay $90+ for a concert ticket, then spend the whole show watching Michael Stipe through a two-inch screen. I don't get it... I think people need to be re-educated about what a concert is all about. I was there at the concert and this little YouTube clip doesn't bring me any closer to the show, despite the fact I wasn't all the way up to the front.

Good on Mr. Stipe for being cool about the yo-yos in the front enjoying their cell phones rather than the real deal, and still playing up the crowd and being everything you could ask for from a frontman.

My highlight from the show, "Orange Crush":